The Merry Sage of Broadcasting Excellence

WASHINGTON -- What is that laughter I hear? I am at work here in our nation's capital, where there is rarely much laughter. Rather there are Solemnities passed from one High and Mighty to another. On Capitol Hill the solons exchange Declarations of Virtue, Manifestos of High Purpose, and increasingly Threats -- particularly threats against free-spirited writers and the prodigies of Talk Radio. The giants of Congress also conspire in slopping up the pork; for instance, just the other day, there was an "earmark" of $130,000 for a National Fat Ladies' Library in Ohio (or is that First Ladies' Library, but does it matter?) and $500,000 for a "Virtual Herbarium" (perhaps a high-tech privy for Senator Larry Craig). Yet I still hear laughter.

The laughter comes from El Rushbo, the Merry Sage of the Excellence in Broadcasting Network. Rush just pulled a good one on the Democratic leadership and those 41 Democratic senators who thought they could intimidate the CEO of Clear Channel Communications, syndicator of Rush's radio show, by sending him a threatening letter. He gave the letter to Rush who promptly informed his 20 million listeners that he would auction off the preposterosity on eBay, match the highest bidder with a check of his own, and send the two checks off to the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation to further its charitable work with the children of fallen Marines. He also invited the posturing senators to join in the generosity.

"This is more fun than I've ever had in my life," Rush declared on Hannity & Colmes during their October 18 show. By then he had sixty or so bids, the highest for $851,000. He was faced with writing the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation a personal check for almost $1 million. Nonetheless he was laughing. Later he laughed even more when one of his supporters bid $2.1 million for the Democrats' epistolary assault on the First Amendment. Now Rush is out an equal amount, but all to a good cause. He can now claim responsibility for a $4.2 million fund drive for the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation. What has been the Democrats response, a matching grant? Actually Senator Harry Reid lumbered out onto the Senate floor and heaved up yet another exhalation of guff.

Rather surprisingly the Democratic Party has made attacks on free speech a major weapon in its arsenal. Recently we reported in The American Spectator that Congressman Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, proposed with some of his investigators a review of the transcripts of such conservative talk radio hosts as Rush, Sean Hannity, and Mark Levin. The goal was to influence the FCC to reinstate the so-called Fairness Doctrine, thus allowing the federal government to shape radio programming. Waxman's response to our report was to at first claim he had been "misrepresented," then to denounce our report as "fictitious," and finally to play the bully. He demanded an apology.

My response was to tell him that I would apologize for our thoroughly accurate report once he do the "decent thing and purchase a toupee." I think we can all agree Henry Waxman would look less menacing as a blond. His next gambit was to protest that "I certainly support the First Amendment." I cannot claim that this was in response to my offer of an apology, but I can tell you that he has yet to purchase a toupee, and that that bald head of his puts many of us in mind of Mussolini. Has he ever been to Rome?

My guess is that the Democrats' threats to the First Amendment will continue. Yet, an even better bet is that Rush will continue to get the better of these brutes. From all I can tell, the 41 Democrats' attack on him made him genuinely angry, but Rush has a gift. He remains cool under fire and responds with devastating weaponry, wit and humor. In a free and open society, those weapons defeat the Democrats' phony indignation every time. Rush left the 41 Democrats looking like clowns...and cheapskates. So far as I have been able to tell, not one has yet to send the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation a check.

R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. is the founder and editor in chief of The American Spectator. He is the author of The Death of Liberalism, published by Thomas Nelson Inc. His previous books include the New York Times bestseller Boy Clinton: the Political Biography; The Impeachment of William Jefferson Clinton; The Liberal Crack-Up; The Conservative Crack-Up; Public Nuisances; The Future that Doesn't Work: Social Democracy's Failure in Britain; Madame Hillary: The Dark Road to the White House; The Clinton Crack-Up; and After the Hangover: The Conservatives' Road to Recovery.

The American Spectator Foundation is the 501(c)(3) organization responsible for publishing The American Spectator magazine and training aspiring journalists who espouse traditional American values. Your contributions are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law. Each donor receives a year-end summary of their giving for tax purposes.